Al Jazeera Seeks UK PR Counsel To Address Reputation Issues

LONDON: Al Jazeera is searching for a UK PR agency to help it shed a lingering reputation for being the “mouthpiece of terror”.

The Qatar-based global news channel has issued a brief to a number of
UK agencies, with the overall aim of growing its viewer numbers in the
UK and Europe.

Al Jazeera launched its English network in late 2006, appointing
Brown Lloyd James (BLJ) to handle PR for the international launch, with a
particular brief to distance the new offering from its Arabic version.
When contacted however, a spokesperson at BLJ said that the agency had
stopped working on the account in 2008.

According to sources, the channel is looking to boost flagging viewer
numbers in the UK and Europe. “People just don’t mention it as being
part of their viewing,” said one source. “They have great content but
people just don’t watch it. There was a fantastic big bang when it came
out but it’s gone off the radar.”

Another source said that one of the challenges, mentioned
specifically in the brief, is Al Jazeera’s historic reputation. “There
is a feeling amongst some people that it is a biased news view that is
somehow in favour of Islamic fundamentalism.”

While that view of Al Jazeera is particularly common in the US, it is
understood that the channel’s Doha-based marketing team see it as an
underlying issue in the UK as well.

“They see that as a barrier to consideration,” continued the source.
“It’s not the number one issue on the brief but it’s an issue to bear in
mind.”